[BN] the know

Extension granted for school transfers

Buffalo News file photo
"Clearly, it's a new day in Buffalo. From the parents' perspective, it's unprecedented to have this kind of immediate response to a serious concern," said Samuel L. Radford III, president of the District Parent Coordinating Council, of the Buffalo School District's decision to grant parents a 10-day extension to decide if they want to transfer eligible students from failing public schools into ones with better academic standing.

The Buffalo School District has granted parents a 10-day extension to decide if they want to transfer eligible students from failing public schools into ones with better academic standing.The deadline had been Sunday to have applications postmarked, but the president of the District Parent Coordinating Council asserted that parents had not received written notification until last week, and an error on the application form also failed to alert them that their child could be eligible to transfer into a criteria-based school. The district, however, did meet the required 14-day notification period with its website posting and through a phone call to students' homes."Clearly, it's a new day in Buffalo. From the parents' perspective, it's unprecedented to have this kind of immediate response to a serious concern," said Samuel L. Radford III, president of the parents' group, who had expected to have to argue the case before the Buffalo School Board at today's meeting."Because the district had been partially compliant, they would in the past have said they would have it corrected for next time," Radford said. "But in this case, they responded immediately by giving the extension and correcting the application. As a parent organization, we could not ask for any more than that."The district said it would be mailing letters announcing the extension to homes shortly. So far, the families of 256 students have requested a transfer, according to a district spokeswoman.Applications can be picked up and dropped off at Central Registration, 33 Ash St., and must be postmarked no later than Sept. 21.